Aquarium would join long list of projects grasping for finite dollars

Detroit Zoo could firm up plan to bring aquarium to Detroit's riverfront by year-end

$150 million project has been a goal for zoo for more than 20 years

Project faces growing list of requests for public, private funding

Tyler Clifford/Crain's Detroit Business

Building an aquarium on the Detroit riverfont would come with an estimated price tag of $150 million and could bring in as many as 1 million visitors each year, Zoo Executive Director and CEO Ron Kagan told the Detroit Free Press.

The Detroit Zoo's plan for a large, exotic aquarium on Detroit's riverfront, something it's envisioned for more than 20 years, could be firmed up as soon as year's end, the zoo's director said.

What remains to be seen: Whether there is public and private appetite for the project — or the money.

Ron Kagan

The zoo will have its work cut out for it in securing funding for the $150 million project, given that it comes at a time of a growing list of requests for public and private dollars by nonprofits and local governments.

The logic to bringing an aquarium to Detroit's riverfront is compelling, zoo Executive Director and CEO Ron Kagan said.

The zoo estimates the aquarium would generate a projected $100 million in economic impact each year, given that the bulk of the estimated 1 million annual visitors would come from outside of the region and would be likely to spend money at area restaurants, stores and hotels, he said.

In places such as New Orleans and New York, organizations have created multiple nature campuses for the community and tourists and they're all thriving, he said. Closer to Detroit, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and Ripley's Aquarium of Canada in Toronto are destinations attracting visitors from near and far.

"The when ... (and) how is something that's a little harder to figure out, but I don't think it's far off," Kagan said.

There's a good chance that by the end of the year the zoo will have enough clarity to share a plan, he said. Finishing it could take three to five years of development, he said.

The Detroit Zoo's renewed push to bring a major aquarium attraction to Detroit's downtown riverfront came to light late Tuesday.

City officials declined to comment on the plan, which is targeted for the vacant Ford Auditorium site near Hart Plaza.

If the zoo moves forward now with the plan to bring a large aquarium to the Detroit riverfront, it will face competition for public and private funding from myriad directions.

Among them:

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is in the quiet phase of a $100 million-$150 million campaign that will fund development of the west riverfront, among other things.

The city of Detroit and ancillary organizations including Detroit Employment Solutions Corp. are looking to corporations and foundations for money that helps leverage federal dollars.

Social services nonprofits that have traditionally provided important services, such as Focus: Hope and Southwest Solutions, are at a crossroads financially.

Three of the largest downtown cultural institutions — the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Michigan Opera Theatre — are attempting to raise endowments.

As far as tax dollars go, there's a renewed push to gain millage support for a $5.4 billion regional transportation plan.

And Dan Gilbert's Bedrock LLC's $2.1 billion investment in downtown Detroit, which includes the state's tallest skyscraper on the former J.L. Hudson's department store site, is expected to be underwritten by nearly $618 million in tax breaks and captures.

At a cost of $150 million, the aquarium would run just a little more than Detroit's QLine streetcar system and the total amount raised by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy to develop and endow the city's east riverfront redevelopment.

Investing in quality of life

The needs and asks have always existed, Kagan said. "Before it was the bankruptcy or helping with a major campaign for the DSO. Obviously, all these things are important ... for what makes an exciting future for this community."

You can't have good roads or good schools without investing in them. And you can't have quality of life without investing in it, he said.

"I'm not suggesting we're the (only need), but don't think there's some sequence or lineup to that," Kagan said.

The zoo has proven time and again that it can convince donors, foundations and voters to step up with millions to support its efforts.

It convinced voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to support a 10-year operating millage in 2008 and renew it in 2016. The millage accounts for about a quarter of its approximatley $40 million annual operating budget.

Since 2011, it's invested about $60 million to upgrade animal habitats. In December, it launched the $700,000 renovation and expansion of its habitat for the endangered red panda with a $500,000 grant from the Farmington Hills-based Holtzman Wildlife Foundation.

Last year, it opened the expanded Edward Mardigian Sr. River Otter Habitat after completing projects to create the Polk Penguin Conservation Center in 2016, the Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness in 2015 and the lions habitat in 2011.

Other major capital projects have included the Jane and Frank Warchol Beaver Habitat and Cotton Family Wetlands/Boardwalk, along with renovations and improvements to the habitats for the great apes, reptiles, aardvarks, warthogs, bears, sloths and the barnyard.

The zoo hasn't yet approached donors or funders to support the aquarium, Kagan said. Several major foundations confirmed they have not been approached.

Appetite for the project

But the zoo and Kagan have been in talks with donors; the state; the city since Coleman Young was in office and now with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a former director on the zoo's board. It's also been talking with others who might have some interest in the project including educational institutions and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, he said.

There's "absolutely" appetite for the project, Kagan said.

"Everyone we've talked to over the years has been so excited. They're just waiting for us to come up with a plan of where to do it and how to do it, so we're continuing to do our homework," he said.

Kagan's exploration of a riverfront aquarium has the blessing of the zoo's board of directors, said Matt Cullen, principal of Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures LLC and a member of the zoo board.

"I think it's a great and cool idea," said Cullen, who also chairs the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.

The vacant Ford Auditorium site for a destination venue like a riverside aquarium has logistical hurdles to clear — namely parking and access to mass transit — as well as "raising a little bit of money for it, too," he said.

But Cullen said the idea of an aquarium on Detroit's riverfront shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

He points to the city's accomplishments in recent years to renovate Cobo Center, develop the RiverWalk and build the QLine streetcar system along Woodward Avenue, which Cullen played a central role in bringing to fruition as CEO of M-1 Rail.

"Things that seemed impossible five years or 10 years ago are now reality," Cullen said in an interview.